


dinosaur puns are (not) funny, sokka

by izumiko



Category: Avatar: The Last Airbender
Genre: Bisexual Sokka (Avatar), Fluff, Gay Zuko (Avatar), M/M, So many dinosaurs, and they’re being gay, jurassic park au anyone?, just at the park, my love for dinosaurs got me here, not like the movie tho, oblivious idiots, slow burn? kinda, suki is a zukka shipper yep, the dinosaurs just want food
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2020-11-08
Updated: 2020-11-17
Packaged: 2021-03-08 20:49:20
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 5
Words: 10,096
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/27442933
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/izumiko/pseuds/izumiko
Summary: Zuko had been working at Jurassic Park ever since the opening to train dinosaurs had opened. He was in love (with the dinosaurs).Sokka had been told they just needed a lab tech. He was not told he would be working with giant dinosaurs. He was in love (with the dinosaurs).or, Sokka and Zuko meet at Jurassic Park. Nothing goes the way it should.
Relationships: Sokka/Zuko (Avatar)
Comments: 36
Kudos: 88





	1. jurassic park is a wingman (and not just because of the pteranodons)

**Author's Note:**

> as always, for my best friend ever (and wonderful beta reader), kourt :)

Zuko had been working at Jurassic Park ever since the opening to train dinosaurs had opened. Train dinosaurs? First, how? Second, absolutely. He immediately fell in love with the place, albeit unfinished, and specifically the literal dinosaurs he got to work with. His (almost) degree in paleontology certainly hadn’t told him this was even an option. 

The carnivores immediately stole his interest, especially the Spinosaurus and Carnotaurus (which he had always favored as a child as well). They looked weird and had odd structures that nobody really knew much about, and Zuko was in love. 

Sokka was told they just needed a lab tech, someone to make sure the labs stay as they should and nothing gets ruined. He was not told he would be working with giant sea monsters (not dinosaurs, he had to remind himself of that) or fixing the controls to a dinosaur containment thingy. Not a pig pen or a horse stable. Dinosaurs. 

He might have been surprised, but he surely loved it. The Plesiosaurus in the gigantic tank by the front of the island caught his eye, and by the end of his first work week, he was being told how to knock on the glass correctly to make it notice the food above it. Sokka sure didn’t have a paleontology degree or anything, but damn if he didn’t want one now. Maybe he could double major in paleontology and biochemistry (probably not, he was smart but that sounded awful). 

Sokka had arrived in the lab a few hours ago, stashing dna into a freezer and checking off on fossils. Normally, he would make sure all of the dna was in the proper places and then sit back and watch a few eggs hatch. Oddly enough, he was being called into the Tyrannosaurus Rex bay, which he had never actually been inside. It was huge, dark and scary so he definitely didn’t seek it out. 

Now, standing in front of the huge door, he was definitely not wrong about the previous statement. He had never been in, or even around any of the carnivore bays (he didn’t feel like getting eaten, thank you very much). They were much bigger than the Triceratops bays, that’s for sure. 

“Sokka, right?” said a voice from behind him. 

Turning, Sokka caught the eyes of one of the workers (although Sokka wasn’t exactly sure what he did) he had seen around the labs. Why he was there, Sokka didn’t know the answer to. All he knew is that he was unfairly attractive and a bit (very) intimidating. He also had a scar on the left side of his face, but it definitely wasn’t ugly (maybe… hot?) Sokka didn’t know anything about him past that. 

“Sokka?” said the voice again, breaking Sokka from his trance. Shit, he must’ve been staring. 

“Yeah, that’s me.”

“The T. Rex door locking system malfunctioned, think you can fix it?” 

“Uh- sure. If it’s anything like the Brontosaurus system,” Sokka narrowed his eyes. 

“It’s similar, but you’ll get the hang of it,” said the woman “the T. Rex handlers will make sure it can’t hurt you, if you’re nervous. They’re right over there, if you want to go say hi. Say Jin sent you” 

Sokka nodded and looked in the direction she had pointed in. Shit. Of all people, he was a T. Rex handler? Unfair. How unfair of the universe to make him hot, and then add another layer of hotness. 

Shaking his nerves (because why universe), he stepped up behind the group (ok, behind the hot dude) and hoped they noticed him so he wouldn’t have to awkwardly cough. Lucky for him, the universe sided with him for two seconds, as the hot dude noticed him. Although, he didn’t say anything for a few seconds as his eyes (why are they gold what the fuck) widened. 

“Uh- Sokka right?” he asked after a beat. 

“Yeah, Sokka. That’s me,” he rambled (this is embarrassing). 

“I’m Zuko,” said the (hot dude) normally attractive dude “I can take you to the control panel? We’re about to tranquilize her but I’ll show you afterwards.” 

“Yeah sure, I’m not sure how the T. Rex or any of the carnivore doors work though. It’ll be a learning experience for both of us,” Sokka grinned, watching Zuko also grin (damnit).

Sokka watched as Zuko and the rest of the T. Rex handlers cautiously stood outside the half open door, tranquilizer guns at the ready. Zuko lead the group (because damn it, of course he did) and ushered them in with careful steps. 

The T. Rex seemed to not even notice the group as it was preoccupied with a rather large chunk of meat. Zuko held his hand up, never taking his eyes off of the dinosaur, then moved his fingers to signal now as the others shot a few tranquilizer bullets into the T. Rex. 

Sokka, to put it into a few words, was on fire. The hot dude with annoyingly perfect hair and gold eyes just stood in front of a giant dinosaur and didn’t die? Whew. Unfortunately, his daydreaming session was cut off with Zuko’s hand waving in front of his eyes. 

“Sokka?”

“Oh, sorry. I’ve never seen a T. Rex before is all.” 

“First time for everything, I suppose,” Zuko said, shrugging “now that she can’t leave her bay, you can work on the door.” 

Zuko lead Sokka over to the large panel on the side of the cement wall that was now sparking and smoking a bit. 

“What happened?” Sokka asked, raising an eyebrow. 

“Not sure, but stuff malfunctions all the time so it’s not a big deal,” Zuko shrugged. 

“Dude, it wouldn’t be a big deal on a Stegosaurus bay. This is a T. Rex.” 

“That’s why I exist,” Zuko retorted. 

“Still, it could eat you.” 

“Wouldn’t be the worst way to die.” 

Sokka shook his head, a small laugh bubbling in his chest. He began ripping at the panel door (since apparently the key was missing, seriously, Sokka was worried for these handlers). He messed with a few wires and (almost got electrocuted) plugged some stuff in and boom. Doors fixed. Go Sokka. 

“How’d you do that so fast?” Zuko asked, cheeks red. 

“I fix the Brontosaurus panel all the time, they really like to lay down right next to the walls.” 

“Huh, I guess that’s why we don’t see each other here much.” 

“What?” 

“You work with the sauropods?” 

“Sometimes, but I’m usually in the lab or with the Plesiosaurus and Mosasaurus,” Sokka replied. 

“That must take a lot of raincoats.” 

“I went through three shirts yesterday, don’t even get me started,” he deadpanned. Zuko chuckled a bit, and Sokka felt his brain turn into mush (or heart? Or just everything? Everything). 

“Well, thank you for helping with the panel. The T.Rex bay malfunctions quite a bit, so hopefully I’ll see you around again soon,” Zuko grinned. 

“We could see each other sooner if you want to show me another terrifyingly large lizard.” 

“Oh- uh… sure. Yeah, that’ll be great,” Zuko sputtered “I work with the Carnotaurus tomorrow, if you’d like to see him.” 

“How many dinosaurs do you get to see everyday? Unfair. I’ll be at the Carnotaurus bay tomorrow. After lab stuff of course.” 

“Of course,” Zuko parroted “see you tomorrow.” 

Sokka was so, so screwed.


	2. zuko loves his dinosaurs (and maybe sokka?)

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> zuko loves dinosaurs, sokka loves dinosaurs, zuko likes sokka, sokka likes zuko.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> as always, for kourt :)
> 
> also, there’s kind of a wacky perspective change in this chapter, it shouldn’t be too hard to understand but. heads up :)

Zuko was positively screwed. The cute dude he met yesterday asked him to show him his favorite dinosaur? He was going to explode. Literally. His heart felt like it was pounding a million beats a minute. He was cute and worked with the Mososaurus? And the Plesiosaurus? Zuko couldn’t catch a break. 

It was stupid to be so nervous (and excited) about showing Sokka the Carnotaurus, he knew it was. But Zuko couldn’t help it. The Carnotaurus was his thing, his favorite and now he could share it with the (cute dude) Sokka. He was going to either lose his shit or be a huge dork. Either option was not ideal. 

And either option would happen either way. Damnit. 

Of course there was only one Jeep left. The raggedy one that always sputtered with smoke from the hood at least every ten miles and had holes in all of the seats. Zuko shook away how awful the drive to the Carnotaurus enclosure would be and turned the Jeep on (but not without some irritating clicking from the battery). 

Stupid old Jeeps and stupid bumpy roads. Not even roads, dirt paths with tree roots all over them. The drive, as usual, was hell (but it was ok, because he got to see one of his favorite things. The dinosaur or a cute boy? He didn’t know the answer to that yet). 

“Zuko!” 

Zuko turned and hopped out of the Jeep once he put it in park, only to see Sokka already waiting there (he was eager… odd). 

“Hey- you know the bay won’t open until I unlock it right?”

“I figured, I didn’t mind the wait.”

“Don’t you have to be at the lab?” 

“They’ll be fine.”

Zuko flushed, turning away so Sokka couldn’t see his red face and walked up the stairs to the handler door. 

“Y’know, it’s super cool that you work with carnivores. Like, the Plesiosaurus is badass even if i get soaked everyday, but these things could literally eat you dude.” 

“The Plesiosaurus could eat you too”

Placing his thumb over the scanner, it read his fingerprint and opened the door to the large walkway system that criss-crossed over the Carnotaurus habitat. 

“Woah,” Sokka gasped “this is so cool.”

Zuko grinned at him, leaning against the railing. The trees rattled a little bit, signaling to Zuko where the dinosaur was. His horns stuck out a bit through the leaves as large stomps echoed through the bay. 

“He’s moving, over here,” Zuko said, waving Sokka over to another walkway. 

The dinosaur stepped into the clearing right under them as Zuko tried (he really tried but unfortunately, the words were lost before he could open his mouth) to tell Sokka about it, but Sokka looked so excited to see the somewhat devilish looking dinosaur below them. His eyes were wide and his smile was bigger than Zuko had seen in their two days of knowing each other (hey, Sokka smiled a lot). 

“He’s so cool looking,” Sokka gushed. 

“Yeah, they’re one of my favorites.”

“Why?”

“Huh?” Zuko stopped staring at (Sokka) the Carnotaurus “oh- I dunno. I like their horns and little arms. I even named this one Druk.” 

“It looks like a T. Rex, but if they had horns and even tinier arms,” Sokka laughed, mimicking a T. Rex. 

“Yeah, it does. I think it’s also because they we-,”

Aaaand Sokka’s brain had shut down and gone into daydreaming mode again. Not because he was bored by Zuko, but because of the exact opposite. His rambling about the dinosaur was so damn cute that Sokka couldn’t help but take his eyes off of the Carnotaurus and (attempt to look subtle) stare. Zuko’s angry and broody persona immediately went down as his eyes lit up with excitement. 

Sokka knew Zuko caught him staring, but he couldn’t bring himself to care. Even with only two days of knowing each other under their belt, Zuko was smiling more now than Sokka had ever seen. Sokka knew Zuko was attractive, but now as he went on about every little detail about the dinosaur he could think of, Sokka felt his pupils practically turn into hearts (apparently he had been transported to an episode of Looney Toons). 

“-kka?” 

“Huh?” Sokka blinked as he was brought out of the lovesick trance. 

“Oh shit, I'm sorry, you were probably so bored. I can never bring myself to stop talking once I get going,” Zuko shook his head, slumping over the railing. 

“What? Zuko, dude, it’s super cool that you know all this stuff. No wonder they asked you to be here, you’re super smart and into it.” 

“You’re sure?” 

“I am standing above a 25 foot tall devil looking prehistoric animal listening to a cute boy tell me about it, in detail. I’m quite sure this is one of the most interesting moments of my life,” Sokka assured (not really registering the fact that he called Zuko a cute boy but it’s fine). 

Apparently, Zuko didn’t register it either and instead blushed a fierce red. They both looked back down at the Carnotaurus (hiding their tomato red faces) who was now meticulously picking its horns against a tree. 

“Thanks, by the way,” Zuko said after a moment. 

“For what?”

“For listening to me. And just… being here in general. I usually come here alone on most days.” 

“I’d come up here everyday if it meant I could see that guy again,” Sokka grinned and pointedly looked at the dinosaur, punching himself mentally for not saying you. 

Zuko grinned back, subconsciously inching closer to Sokka. 

“If you want, I can meet you at the Allosaurus bay tomorrow? And we can see where we end up from there?” Zuko asked softly “since you wanted to see more?” 

Sokka’s jaw dropped a little (luckily not enough for Zuko to notice) before he shook away his surprise. 

“Yes definitely!” he replied (very enthusiastically) “when?” 

“I get done right around midafternoon?” 

“Perfect. Allosaurus bay, mid afternoon.”

They stayed in the Carnotaurus bay until dusk, even if it meant picking up extra work the next day. Sokka’s heart pounded in his ears on the way back to his room, a stupid, lovesick smile plastered on his face. He definitely didn’t mean to go and get a crush on someone at his workplace of all things, but here he was. 

The next day, Sokka met Zuko right where they’d agreed upon. Zuko even offered to show Sokka the Allosaurus, which was amazing (she was like a smaller, skinnier T. Rex, Sokka loved her). They fell into easy and comfortable conversation, never feeling awkward or weird. 

Zuko was hard to make laugh, but Sokka could swear every time he did, his heart exploded into a million pieces. He still had the cautious and quiet wall up sometimes, forgetting that Sokka was a safe person. Sokka didn’t know this, but everyday they spent together made them trust each other even more. 

They watched eggs hatch in the lab (by Zuko’s request) and messed with some of the engineers. 

Zuko showed Sokka how to catch a T. Rex’s attention without getting eaten, and Sokka showed Zuko all of the (admittedly confusing) stuff he had done around the labs. 

Sokka could admit that he thought Zuko was stand-off ish and rude at first, just wanting to have him fix a door and leave, but Zuko clearly enjoyed the company (even if he didn’t laugh at every one of Sokka’s jokes, which was not not normal). 

And Sokka definitely enjoyed Zuko’s company. 

Somehow they fell into a routine, meeting at the Allosaurus pen and spending the rest of their night together before heading off to their own rooms. Sokka knew it was true, but he was having a hard time admitting that he was falling in love with Zuko. Mainly because the guy was perfect (trains dinosaurs? Is hot? Funny?), but also because Sokka didn’t even know much about Zuko. He knew surface level stuff of course, and that was great in and of itself, but Sokka knew there was more to him. 

On the Thursday night of Sokka’s third week of working at Jurassic Park, he finally admitted it. But only to himself, in his head.


	3. sokka’s plesiosaurus and zuko’s obliviousness

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> our boys get a bit wet. only by a prehistoric beast though, you heathen.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> this chapter was the hardest for me to write so far, so i hope it’s ok :) i’m not good at writing suki, hopefully i do her justice 
> 
> as always, for kourt <3 mwah

Zuko had a love/hate relationship with Friday’s. On one hand, he got to sleep in the next morning and didn’t actually have to work with his dinosaurs. But on the other hand, Sokka had managed to wiggle himself into Zuko’s entire day (wasn’t he supposed to be at the lab or something?) and that meant Zuko couldn’t get a break from being head over heels with the guy. 

Luckily, Sokka talked a lot, so it filled the silence (and even though you can’t hear a heartbeat unless you’re close, he was glad it covered that too. Not for any reason in particular) Zuko usually preferred while watching over the Spinosaurus. 

Unfortunately, Sokka offered to finally show Zuko the Plesiosaurus tanks after a week of asking, but not until he did something in the lab (which Zuko doubted was true, but he didn't question it). 

“I just need to make sure the Velociraptor dna is all good, one sec,” Sokka said, gesturing for Zuko to wait outside the freezer. 

“Oh now he does it, I asked him to check that dna two days ago,” scoffed a voice from behind Zuko. 

“Sokka?” Zuko asked the woman. 

“Mhm,” she hummed, crossing her arms. 

When Sokka emerged from the freezer, his tan skin tinged a bit red from the cold, his eyes immediately widened when he noticed the woman, a bright smile plastered onto his face. 

“Suki!” he shouted, launching himself into her arms. 

“Sokka,” the woman deadpanned with a small grin “where’ve you been?” 

Sokka’s eyes flicked to Zuko for a moment, who hunched in a bit and grinned nervously. Suki gave Sokka a knowing smirk and nodded. 

“Uh- yeah. I’ve been out and stuff. We were going to go to the Plesiosaurus tanks if you want to come?” 

Zuko, having just met Suki, who could barely even talk to just Sokka, did not want her to come. But, he’d suck it up for Sokka. Only Sokka. 

“Nah,” she replied “I have to stitch up a Stegosaurus leg anyways. It’s always a Stegosaurus.”

“You’re a paleo-veterinarian ?” Zuko asked (damn, no wonder Sokka likes her. Likes likes? Or just likes? Friends? Hopefully.)

Nodding, Suki glanced at the boys with a quirked eyebrow and smile “wow, Sokka’s been hanging out with this mystery man and won’t even tell him about his best friend,” she teased. 

“Oh Suks, you love me no matter what.” 

“Incorrect.”

“I don’t love you right now, jerk,” Sokka said, faking a pout. 

“Unfortunately for you, I know that’s definitely not true,” Suki retorted “and I never caught your name? You’re th-“

Suki is stopped by a hand on her mouth from Sokka, who looked very alarmed. 

“Suki!” he whisper-yelled. 

“Fine, fine. Nice to meet you, Zuko.”

“I thought you said you didn’t know my name,” Zuko asked, raising an eyebrow. 

“Sokka is very talkative,” is all Suki said. 

“Well… it’s nice to meet you too, Suki.”

Suki flashed them a smirk and waved them goodbye, turning back into the lab doors. 

“She’s nice,” Zuko said as they came up on the Plesiosaurus tanks. 

“Yeah, we’ve been best friends for years. We dated for a few years, but it didn’t work out in the long run,” Sokka smiled.

“Oh, sorry,” Zuko frowned, (now Zuko really didn’t have a chance) looking up at Sokka. 

“Nah, it’s fine. Best friends are sometimes better anyways.” 

Zuko shrugged, then realized the huge tank was right in front of them. There were small ramps about 50 feet above the water like the ones above the Carnotaurus bay. Sokka waved him over to the few steps that lead to the ramps. 

“You’re gonna love this,” Sokka said, knocking on the floor of the ramp 3 times in two second intervals. 

Zuko raised an eyebrow in confusion as the water stayed still beneath them, eyeing Sokka’s large grin (why did he have to look like that? Life is so unfair). 

Then, the water began to ripple near the center of the massive tank as Sokka reached to rest his hand on top of Zuko’s. 

“Sorry if you’re wearing a nice shirt,” Sokka said, glancing at Zuko (still not moving his hand, Zuko was going to die).

With a huge splash, the surface of the water broke as the Plesiosaurus leaped outward. Seemingly floating in midair for a second, It’s long neck spun a bit as it dove back underwater, sending a small wave towards them (sufficiently soaking their clothes). 

“Ha! I told you it would be cool,” Sokka cheered “go Foofoocuddlypoops!”

“Huh?” Zuko asked, raising his eyebrows in pure confusion. 

“That’s his name,” Sokka explained (even though it didn’t actually explain anything). 

“Interesting,” Zuko blinked “well, you were right about getting soaked.” 

“I did warn you,” Sokka retorted “but we probably have some dry shirts back in the watch tank. For when this happens to other people. Which it does, a lot. If you want one.” 

“Uh- sure,” Zuko said, casting his gaze anywhere but Sokka. Wet shirt and cute boy do not mix. 

The watch tank was apparently just a small room built into the rest of the tank with one glass wall. It was claustrophobic, surrounded by water and cement, but Zuko wasn’t paying much attention to that. 

(Really, all he was thinking about was is there a dressing room in there? Shit, I’m going to have to change my shirt right in front of Sokka. Who is very cute and smart and-)

“Here, I figured you’d like a black one since that’s all I ever see you in anyways,” Sokka grinned, handing Zuko a plain black shirt. 

“Oh- uh, thank you,” Zuko sputtered, turning bright red “should I just…?” 

“Yeah just change here, I’ll look away if you’re uncomfortable. With that. Not that I was going to look either way or something,” Sokka said, mumbling the last few words. 

“I’m not… uh- you can do whatever. I guess.” 

Zuko (as quickly as possible) pulled the water logged shirt off, threw it on the floor beside him and pulled the dry one over his head. Still having his back turned to Sokka (he did not need another thing to embarrass him right now), he looked out of the window and into the water. Forgive him for trying to focus on something else. 

“Where’d it go? The dinosaur, I forget it’s name,” he asked, twiddling his thumbs. 

“The Plesiosaurus,” Sokka replied with a soft grin (who apparently had also changed his shirt? When?) “isn’t actually a dinosaur. And he’s probably on the other side of the tank right now.” 

“It’s not?” 

“Nope! Super weird though, it looks like it would be, but almost all of the prehistoric animals that lived in the ocean weren’t dinosaurs. Other than the Spinosaurus, but you knew that, with your scary carnivores and stuff,” he smirked, leaning his forehead onto the glass. 

Humming, Zuko inched closer to Sokka and pressed his head against the glass in the same manner. 

They stood like that for a while, taking in the comfortable silence and calming ripple of the water in front of them. Zuko wondered what Sokka was thinking about, if his head was swarmed with thoughts like his own, or if it was peaceful. 

Now pressed shoulder to shoulder (hey, Zuko hadn’t even moved. Or maybe he did. Sue him), they still gazed out into the blue waters with small smiles plastered on their faces. When Zuko noticed Sokka had moved to press his temple into the glass instead of his forehead, Zuko hesitantly did the same. 

Damnit, his stupid pretty face. And eyes. And everything, ugh. It was all staring right back at Zuko. He really hoped the blue tinge from the water would conceal the redness building up on his cheeks. 

(It did not). 

“Thanks for- uh- showing me. The din- thing. It’s cool. Even if it got us soaked,” Zuko mumbled. 

“Well I wasn’t going to let you have all the fun, was I?” he teased “but seriously, it’s been nice to hang out with you Zuko. Even if it ends with wet clothes. Don’t say I didn’t warn you though.” 

“Ha ha,” Zuko deadpanned, crossing his arms. 

Sokka shook his head with a grin and continued to keep his gaze locked on Zuko. Of course, Zuko didn’t seem to notice (his obliviousness truly did not do him any favors). 

Their (irritatingly lovesick) staring match ended when Zuko’s phone started buzzing in his pocket, startling him enough to almost whack his head against the glass. 

“Shit, they need me with the Spinosaurus. I’m sorry, I gotta go. But thank you Sokka- uh- I’ll see you tomorrow?” 

“Don’t worry about it dude, same place and time right?”

“Yeah… dude,” Zuko smirked.

Rolling his eyes, Sokka ushered Zuko out of the room (while Zuko absentmindedly tried to grasp Sokka’s hand). 

“See ya Zuko, good luck with whatever they need you for. Best of the best, amirite?” 

“Sure Sokka, keep telling yourself that,” Zuko replied, waving goodbye before closing the door of the Jeep and rubbing his eyes with the heels of his hands. 

Driving to the Spinosaurus, he realized he wasn’t just crushing on the guy, and it hit him like a truck. He never wanted to acknowledge it, but here he was, thinking about his stupid blue eyes and stupid smile and he wanted to combust. 

On the Friday night of Zuko’s fifth week of working at Jurassic Park, he finally admitted it. But only to himself, in his head.


	4. pining idiots (dinosaurs apparently aren’t very good wing-animals)

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> zuko loves his dinosaurs so much he might just freak out when he can’t see them (but sokka loves him too, so it’s ok)

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> ok a couple things. 
> 
> the little ~ are just perspective changes 
> 
> and this chapter was my favorite to write so far and i’m super proud of it BUT this means i’m kinda burnt out so if chapter 5 takes me a bit longer to write, sorry. It’s also a very action packed chapter and I want to make sure it’s good :) 
> 
> and as always, for kourt <3

Sokka was admittedly sad that Zuko had to leave right as his brain was telling him to lean in and do something. Anything. Even a damn peck on the cheek. 

But no, the universe still hated him. 

It hated him when he forced himself not to glance at Zuko while he changed his shirt and it hated him when it made Zuko so cute. Seriously, what the hell. The guy named a dinosaur that looked like a demon-satan-evil thing with tiny arms and somehow knows everything about it. 

Sokka despised the universe right back. 

But today was not a day he could spend pining over the jerk. Sokka had important and exciting work to do (unfortunately, watching over test tubes full of prehistoric animal dna is not exciting, and watching Suki operate on a Triceratops was not important). 

Luckily, the lab was mostly empty today, only a few people at the computers and Suki in the office. Sokka figured he’d check on all the dna, seeing as he didn’t have plans (until later). 

Stupid Zuko and his stupid everything. 

The Velociraptor dna was in its normal place, having been filled more the previous day. Some of the Amargasaurus and Pachycephalosaurus dna was missing, or had been moved. A few vials of T. Rex dna was nowhere to be found, leaving empty spaces right next to the Spinosaurus dna. 

It was odd, but Sokka knew the other nerds (yes other, Sokka knew he was a dork) must’ve forgotten to tell him, so he let it slide. 

“Did you take any of the dna from the freezer?” Sokka asked Suki after he finished checking, watching her x-ray a baby Triceratops. 

“No, why?”

“There were a couple vials missing, I thought you might’ve needed them.” 

Suki shook her head, shifting the Triceratops a bit “You can probably ask Mai, she’ll know more about that than I would. She’s working on the incubators right now.”

“Mai?”

“Yeah, you’ll like her. Kinda scary, dark hair, sarcastic. Kinda like Zuko, you like him,” she teased, nudging Sokka’s arm. 

“Sukiiii.”

“You know it’s true, you never shut up about the guy when you’re here.”

“I never said you were wrong. Just mean.” 

“Mhm, well stop whining and go find Mai,” Suki hummed, waving him away. 

Sokka scowled at her and stepped out of her office, watching her shoot him an eye roll. 

He scanned the lab for Mai, but Suki didn’t give him much to go off of. Dark hair and scary looking? Might as well go out to the Allosaurus and look for Zuko. 

Fortunately, amongst the non-scary looking scientists working around the eggs, Mai was pretty easy to spot. Her pitch black hair and stern gaze at her microscope was a pretty major tell. Man, even when Suki didn’t make sense, she made sense. Which didn’t make sense, but Sokka didn’t care. 

“Uh- Mai?,” he asked hesitantly. She barely glanced up from her microscope, raising an eyebrow. 

Ok, so she was exactly like Zuko in girl form. 

“Suki told me you’d know what’s happening with the dna in the freezer.” 

Mai pursed her lips, sliding the glass sample off of the microscope base and setting it on the table. It hit it with a little clink against Mai’s sharp nails. 

“What’s wrong with the dna?” she finally asked. 

“There were a bunch of missing vials, I was just wondering if one of you guys took them without telling me.” 

“It definitely wasn’t me,” Mai deadpanned, crossing her arms and leaning back in her chair “but maybe check again, and if they’re still gone you can ask one of them.”

“I’m not blind, y’know. There were missing samples.” 

“I never said you were. Maybe someone forgot to put them back, but it’s not a big deal.” 

Sokka hummed and shook his head, spinning on his heel “thanks anyways Mai.” 

She shot him a quick nod before sifting through the glass samples and putting another one under the microscope head. Sokka would definitely have to ask Zuko if he knew her. Maybe they grew up in the same graveyard or something. 

He checked the freezer one more time (still missing. Shit) and realized it was almost noon. Zuko would be waiting and Sokka did not like to do that. Keep him waiting. Not see Zuko (his brain sometimes did not work correctly when it thought about Zuko. Stupid brain). 

Driving on dirt roads required concentration and a brain not full of thoughts about Zuko. Sokka had neither. Luckily, he managed to pull the Jeep into the bay and park it without crashing. Go Sokka. 

Finally, he could see Zuko’s ever distinctive all black outfit contrasted with his pale skin (did he put on gallons of sunscreen? The guy was out in the sun all day) walking along ramps on top of the Allosaurus habitat. Sokka’s heart pounded in his ears as he leaned against the ratty old Jeep. 

Zuko looked fully in his element up there, expression stern but happy. He knew what he was doing, and the people up there with him knew it too. Sokka watched from the ground with a soft smile plastered on his face. He would never admit it, but seeing Zuko confident and excited about something made Sokka fall in love even more. 

Sokka was knocked out of his daydream when he noticed Zuko hurriedly stepping down the ramps, eyes locked on Sokka. 

“Hey,” he said with a sigh, launching himself into Sokka’s arms. 

“Well hello to you too,” Sokka grinned. 

“It’s uh- it’s good to see you,” Zuko said, rubbing the back of his neck. 

“You saw me yesterday.”

“What, I can’t see my best friend everyday?”

Best friend. Hm. Sokka didn’t mind it, but he also hated it. The friend part. Sokka wasn’t even sure if Zuko liked him, or even if he liked guys. Idiot. 

“If you’re going to strangle me while we hug then no, you strangler.”

“No more lung crushing hugs, I’ll remember that,” Zuko smirked, leaning next to Sokka on the Jeep. 

“Good, wouldn’t want your best friend to suffocate on you.” 

Shaking his head, Zuko leaned his side into Sokka’s like it was nothing. Sokka, on the other hand, felt like he was going to explode. It was such a normal, friendly gesture, but Sokka knew Zuko only liked contact when he wanted it. 

Like when Sokka almost kissed him in the Plesiosaurus tank. 

Or when Zuko reached for Sokka’s hand every chance he could. 

Especially when Sokka held Zuko’s hand over the railing on top of the Carnotaurus habitat. 

So, Sokka knew Zuko wanted to lean into him. It wasn’t random. It wasn’t forced either. And Sokka liked the feeling of Zuko’s shoulder on his. 

After a moment of silence (and Sokka praying that his breathing wasn’t noticeable. What? He was nervous), Zuko turned to face Sokka and crossed his arms. 

“What?” Sokka asked, meeting his eyes. 

“Nothing. I think. Would you- uh- like to come with me to see the Spinosaurus?” 

“Really? That sounds awesome,” Sokka exclaimed with a huge grin. 

Zuko’s eyes lit up as he too had a grin stuck on his face. 

“Someone else had to use my Jeep earlier, so I don’t have one… could I drive yours? Unless you know how to get to the Spinosaurus.” 

“Nope, you’re the one that knows the big scary ones. Not me.” 

“You could learn more about them… if you wanted. I could tell you. Then they wouldn’t be so scary,” Zuko said brightly, fiddling with the door lock on the Jeep. 

“I’d like that,” Sokka replied, smiling back. 

Zuko grinned widely, clasping his hands together and gently shoved Sokka out of the way of the Jeep’s driver side door, gesturing for Sokka to get in the passenger seat. The Jeep sputtered as it turned on, clicking a bit before igniting. 

Sokka watched idly as Zuko drove over the bumpy dirt roads, his eyes weren’t even full of fear like Sokka’s when he drove over them (listen, Sokka had never been a good driver. It was the bisexuality within him). 

~

Zuko had talked to Sokka, sure. They talked about their hobbies, their favorite dinosaurs, amongst other things. But now, in the rickety old Jeep, he desperately wanted to know more. What was his home like? He mentioned a sister, but never elaborated. Was she a good sister, or a sister that he had to distance himself from (like Azula?) Zuko knew asking those things would only make him fall further in love with him, but he was already head over heels anyways. 

Might as well make it known. 

(Sadly, Zuko was driving. Gay people cannot drive and think! His telling-Sokka-he-loved-him plan would have to wait). 

Sokka’s lips were curled up into a slight smile, watching the trees pass as they drove by. Zuko glanced over every so often, his stomach twisting with butterflies at the sight. 

The Spinosaurus enclosure seemed so far as Zuko’s heart pounded in his ears. Had it always been so far away? 

“Zuko?” 

“Huh? Oh- sorry I guess I zoned out,” he replied, shaking his head. Luckily, he hadn’t swerved them off the road. 

“You ok?” Sokka asked, eyebrows furrowed in concern. 

“Yeah I’m fine, sorry I do that sometimes. When I get lost in my thoughts. Kind of a bad coping mechanism, I know, but it’s not new,” he shrugged. 

Ah shit, had he said too much? Way to go Zuko, tell the guy you (are in love with) have a crush on about your trauma. 

Sokka just shot him an apologetic smile, a thousand questions behind it. Zuko knew he’d have to answer some eventually (one of them literally stared back at him in the mirror), but it was… nice to see Sokka understand. 

“That sucks dude.”

Zuko snorted, hunching over the wheel a bit “yeah, it does. Dude,” he snickered. 

Sokka rolled his eyes, the same smile on his face. Zuko prayed the Spinosaurus enclosure was getting close, he wasn’t sure if he could take more of Sokka’s lovesick gaze. 

“Are you going to slow down?”

“What?”

“We’re here,” Sokka said, pointing at the large cement wall in front of them. 

“Oh, yeah. I must’ve zoned out again.”

“You sure you’re ok?” 

Zuko nodded and turned the Jeep off, (accidentally) brushing Sokka’s hand on the middle console as he unbuckled his seatbelt. The Spinosaurus, ever a dramatic beast, was stomping around in the enclosure and making the tree leaves shake around them. 

“He’s loud,” Zuko smirked. 

Sokka chuckled, walking up the stairs to the handler door with Zuko. A loud splash shook through the enclosure, sending small waves of water over the walls. 

“Damnit, someone filled the tank up too far,” Zuko groaned, furrowing his eyebrows, “I told them yesterday to drain it too.” 

“Why didn’t they?” 

“No idea, there was hardly anyone here yesterday either. I have no idea where they all went.” 

“Weird,” Sokka narrowed his eyes “there was some dna missing in the freezer today too, maybe they had to go to a training or something?”

Zuko paused at the top of the steps, pursing his lips. 

“Yeah, maybe.”

He spun back around towards the door, ignoring Sokka’s confused face. 

~

Sokka watched from the top step (the ramp was small ok?) as Zuko’s expression turned from blankness, to confusion to worry. 

“What’s wrong?” he asked eventually.

“The fingerprint panel is broken, it’s completely shattered,” Zuko glanced at Sokka, wide eyed. 

“Huh?”

“I can't scan my fingerprint, which means I can’t get into the enclosure, and there won’t be a repair tech with the right screen here for weeks since the Velociraptor one broke the other day.” 

“Oh, shit,” Sokka exhaled.

“Yeah, oh shit is right. The tank is overflowing and we can’t drain it without getting into the booth,” Zuko shook his head, hunching over the railing. 

“Zuko, it’ll be ok. I’m sure you can figure out another way to get the door open. You said the carnivore doors malfunction all the time, remember? And the Spinosaurus likes the water, he’ll be fine even if you can’t drain it.”

“Yes, but that’s only the bay doors, not the handler doors. The handler doors should never break or else one of the dinosaurs could hurt themselves without us there to help.”

Zuko clenched his eyes shut, rubbing the heels of his hands into them. Sokka had honestly never seen him like this before, and he had no idea what to do. 

“Can I- um- can I give you a hug?” he asked. 

Zuko looked up, eyes beginning to become shiny and sighed before nodding. Sokka wrapped his arms around him gently, rubbing tiny circles into Zuko’s back. Zuko’s hair tickled at Sokka’s ear and his hot tears wet Sokka’s shirt. 

“He’ll be ok,” he assured, whispering. 

“I- I need to get in there somehow.”

“We can go tell the lab, maybe they’ll have a repair screen?”

Zuko pulled away from Sokka and rubbed his eyes, wiping away the last tears on his cheeks. The loud splashing of water had stopped, hopefully meaning the Spinosaurus had left the tank (and not flooded the rest of the enclosure). 

“You promise he’ll be ok?” Zuko asked after a moment “I don’t even know if the other carnivores panels are still working.”

“Promise. You literally almost get eaten by animals that shouldn’t even be alive anymore everyday. You’re tough, and so are they. Because they’re literal dinosaurs.”

Zuko laughed welty, looking back out at the rest of the park. Sokka patted his back, letting his hand linger a bit too long, and looked outward with Zuko. 

“Thank you Sokka,” he whispered after a beat. 

Taken aback a bit, Sokka turned to face Zuko and take in everything about the other man. His hair was slightly more disheveled today, although it still managed to look as fluffy as ever. Somehow, he managed to look nice even after crying into Sokka’s shoulder. Unfair. 

“Of course Zuko.”

The pair eventually went back to the Jeep (which Sokka had elected to drive, no sad Zukos driving cars) and checked with the labs if there was anything they could do about the panel (there wasn’t, and there weren’t any techs in the lab either. On a Tuesday at 3 pm).

It was weird. Sokka felt like somehow, he hadn’t gotten a memo. 

Zuko had eventually convinced Sokka that he was fine (even though his brow seemed to be permanently creased and his eyes narrowed in thought). Sokka didn’t press, knowing how badly Zuko wanted to fix the Spinosaurus panel. If it was the Carnotaurus panel, Sokka figured he might as well have brought a crowbar to pry the door open. 

“Sorry for… y’know… crying on your shirt earlier,” Zuko laughed weakly. 

“It’s ok dude, you know how often I have to deal with soaked shirts anyways,” Sokka teased back. 

Zuko huffed a laugh, rolling his eyes. The ledge they were sitting on overlooked the park even further, encapsulating the sunset lowering on the horizon. Each dinosaur enclosure was packed in a clearing within the trees and Sokka could see the concrete walls rising above some of the tree line. 

Sokka swung his legs back and forth, setting his hand on the metal ramp. He loved the sunset, the colors mingling in beautiful rainbows. The sunset also meant nighttime was coming, the arrival of the bright light of the moon and stars, dotting holes in the sky. He hadn’t gotten to look up much at the sky in a long time, as his attention lately had always been in the water. 

(And perhaps on a cute, dark haired boy). 

Sokka noticed Zuko setting his hand next to his, seemingly subconsciously. Sokka knew better though, as his time with Zuko had taught him. The guy had to make the first move with this kind of thing. So, Sokka shifted his weight onto his left arm and leaned closer to Zuko. 

Moments later, Zuko’s hand brushed on top of Sokka’s before jerking away. Sokka didn’t turn to look at Zuko’s expression, but he could tell it was not exactly… happy. 

“You ok?” he asked. 

Zuko sighed, pulling his legs up over the ramp and sitting criss-cross, “Yeah, just worried I guess.”

“I know,” Sokka replied. He knew Zuko wouldn’t hear his words of assurance, acknowledging his feelings was the best way. 

“I know he’ll be ok,” Zuko yawned “but I can’t help but think he’ll hurt himself.”

“One, like I said, he’s a dinosaur and he definitely won’t hurt himself. Like, he’d probably crack the glass of the water tank before he hurt himself,” Sokka grinned “and two, it’s ok to worry. So don’t beat yourself up dude.”

“Thanks. Dude,” Zuko chuckled between another yawn. 

“Alright, if we stay out here any longer you won’t be able to stay awake tomorrow and you’ll get eaten by a Carnotaurus.”

“Druk would never eat me.”

“Keep telling yourself that, dino boy.”

“Dino boy?” Zuko quirked an eyebrow, standing up and pulling Sokka up with him. 

Sokka hummed with a smirk, tugging Zuko’s wrist down the stairs. 

The sun had finally set on Jurassic Park, casting darkness over the sleeping humans and dinosaurs. The broken panel of a Spinosaurus enclosure and missing dna from the lab were on nobody’s mind anymore, the flood of thoughts having left Zuko’s head. 

Jurassic Park was quiet, only the low grumble of herbivores sleeping ringing through their enclosures. The carnivores hot breath rustled the bushes of their habitats and snoring from humans echoed through the hallways of their rooms. 

Jurassic Park was too quiet.


	5. our spinosaurus wants an evening snack, but our boys have other plans

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> ah bonding within moments of anger. zuko, you dumb idiot. sokka, you’re a dork.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> ahhh sorry for the bit of a wait, this chapter was giving me some trouble :) but i hope it’s good! i think it’s fun and quite a bit different than the other chapters :) enjoy!
> 
> ily kourt from anna

Sokka was confused. The lab was locked and he couldn’t even get in with his backup key, and then he was being told to go to the Triceratops enclosure, which he never went to unless it needed a repair.

So yeah, Sokka was confused.

Although, the Triceratops were extremely fidgety and no matter what Sokka did, he couldn’t get them to listen to anything he said. 

(Why weren’t there Triceratops handlers there anyways?)

It had been an odd day, either way. Luckily, Sokka still got to meet Zuko at the Allosaurus enclosure (and Suki still teased him as he left her office, because of course she did). 

And of course Zuko had to be looking mighty attractive walking along the ramp system above the dinosaur. The jerk. Sokka hadn’t even had a chance to even say anything about his whole hey-Zuko-I’m-in-love-with-you situation since the day with the Plesiosaurus (and he surely wasn’t going to say anything the day before, while Zuko had a breakdown over his dinosaurs). 

Life sucks sometimes. 

Zuko looked more concerned, brow pinched in concentration. There weren’t any other handlers around him and it sounded like the Allosaurus was being a bit more reluctant to listen. Sokka waited in his usual spot, leaning against the car and watching. 

(Sokka was not a stalker. It’s normal to watch the guy you are definitely in love with from a distance right? Right?)

Luckily, Sokka didn’t have to think about that for too long, as Zuko had given up on the Allosaurus and stepped out of the enclosure. Clearly, he hadn’t spotted Sokka yet as he sat up against the concrete wall and seemingly cursed under his breath. 

Sokka stayed put. If he had learned anything about Zuko, it was that he often needed time to think alone. 

~

Zuko was stressed as all hell. The dinosaurs wouldn’t listen to him, he couldn’t find any of the other handlers to help and now he had forced himself to leave the Allosaurus in a fit of frustration. 

The concrete was startlingly cold against his back as he sat against it, muttering curses at the other handlers under his breath. It certainly wasn’t an ‘hey work is optional today, no worries’ kind of day. 

So why on Earth was nobody else there?

Zuko sighed one last time before begrudgingly standing and closing the gate to the stairs. His heart almost stopped when he saw Sokka fidgeting with the side mirror of his Jeep, clearly pretending not to notice him. Zuko shoved his frustration down and smirked, walking towards the other man. 

“Sokka?”

“Zuko! Didn’t expect to see you here,” Sokka half-smiled. 

“At… my job?” 

“Zuko doesn’t understand sarcasm, noted.”

Zuko scowled and looked at his feet, pursing his lips. 

“You good dude?” Sokka asked, stepping closer to Zuko. 

“Yeah, fine, just kinda frustrated.”

Sokka hummed, leaning against the car door. Zuko still had his eyes trained on the ground, watching Sokka’s feet shuffle closer (admittedly very awkwardly, but Zuko couldn’t see that). 

At that point, Zuko’s flicker of frustration in his chest died out as he felt Sokka’s hand on his shoulder, startling him enough to look up. He felt his cheeks burn as his eyes darted across Sokka’s face who also appeared to look rather flustered (he was truly lucky his tan skin hid most of the red on his cheeks). 

Zuko tilted his head back down to try and hide his- well, everything- but his eyes immediately came back on Sokka’s as he tipped Zuko’s chin back up with a hand. 

(Zuko wanted to pinch himself to make sure he wasn’t dreaming, but his arms were now creeping up on Sokka’s sides). 

He let his eyes flutter shut as his hip (painfully) dipped into the metal of the car, trying to ignore his burning cheeks or rapid fire heartbeat.

Sokka’s forehead had barely brushed his own before the loud crackling of electricity rang throughout the park. 

“Shit, what was that?” Sokka said, eyes wide. His light grip on Zuko’s shoulder was gone, and Zuko found himself wishing he could go back in time. 

“Sounded like one of the door panels breaking again, but it’s never been that loud before,” Zuko replied. He turned, noticing that the panel on the Allosaurus enclosure was sparking. 

“Is that… bad?”

“If there were multiple malfunctions all at the same time, that means every dinosaur in the park could escape. It’s very bad,” Zuko sighed, pinching the bridge of his nose. His wrist brushed his cheek, still warm from… before. 

Sokka breathed in sharply, taking a step next to Zuko. The crackling had died down, making the lights flicker back on in the oncoming dusk. Zuko propped himself up next to the hood of the Jeep, seemingly staring into space in thought. 

If they couldn’t fix the doors, the dinosaurs would escape. Considering their current setting, right next to a huge carnivore, Zuko hoped that wouldn’t be the case. Unfortunately, he remembered that literally no one had bothered to show up, to help him or Sokka. Sokka might’ve been good with fixing the malfunctioning panels, but fixing all of them in so little time? 

Zuko figured they might as well just wait to get eaten at that point. 

“So, what do we do?” 

“I don’t know, I’m not sure if anyone else is even here anymore,” Zuko sighed, running a hand through his hair. 

“Suki is here, I saw her this morning,” Sokka grinned. 

“We can go to the lab and see? I know Mai texted me she was going to be here but she might’ve left as well.”

“Wait, Mai?” Sokka asked, eyebrows raised. 

“Yeah, I’ve known her since we were kids. Why?”

“I’ve only met her once but she’s exactly like you dude, no wonder you’ve been friends for so long.”

Zuko scoffed, a slight curl on his lips appearing, “well _dude_ , I hope your Jeep isn’t the janky old one because we need to get back to the lab.”

“All of the Jeeps were parked this morning, it’s like a ghost town around here.”

Zuko nodded, shifting off the side of the car. Sokka’s eyes met his as they opened their respective doors (Sokka had the keys, do the math), making Zuko feel his face warm up again. Just the sight of Sokka’s eyes on his was enough to make him go crazy. But in a good way, of course. 

“C’mon slowpoke, Suki is probably sooo lonely without us,” Sokka smirked. 

Suki was in fact, not lonely without them (honestly, she was so absorbed in her work she might’ve forgotten Sokka existed). 

As expected, the lab was still completely empty save for Suki. Zuko didn’t like the lab much, the stark white of basically everything was blinding and irritating. He was given the option to work there at first, but after taking one step into the overwhelming room, he immediately turned it down. 

Plus, now he got to pat dinosaurs on the head. 

“Sokka? Why’re you here?” Suki asked, swiveling in her chair. 

“Did the power go out for you earlier?” Zuko interjected before Sokka could open his mouth. 

“For a bit yes,” Suki nodded, “did something happen?”

“The door panels are shot on the Allosaurus enclosure, on the way here I saw that the Spinosaurus and Carnotaurus were also broken.”

“Why didn’t you say anything?” Sokka gaped. 

“You were driving, you couldn’t fix them anyway. But now that we’re here, we need to make sure the power stays on so the backups on the locking systems don’t fail.”

Suki frowned, eyes darting between the boys, “there’s hardly anyone else here, the only person who’d know how to fix anything electrical is Sokka and not on that big of a scale.”

Sokka rolled his eyes, muttering ‘I bet I could fix it if I tried’ under his breath. Zuko sat on the edge of the desk behind him, rubbing a temple with one hand. 

“Who else is here?” he finally asked. 

“Just Mai I think, she said she had one last thing to do before she left.”

“Ha! Zuko’s friend,” Sokka jeered.

“You know her, Zuko?”

“Yes, but there are more important things happening right now,” he frowned at Sokka’s sigh beside him, “where is she?”

“Still in the incubator room I believe.”

“How will she help with electrical stuff though?” Sokka raised an eyebrow. 

“She won’t, I just figured we should let her know if something else happens.”

Zuko knew the other two must’ve been confused at his odd behavior, his frustration from before coming out again as snappiness. He didn’t care though, the dinosaurs- _his_ dinosaurs- might’ve been in danger and he would not let that happen. 

Mai was luckily still in the incubator room, looking like she was about to pack up and leave. Zuko knew Mai stayed simply because she was too stubborn to leave something unfinished, much like himself. 

“Zuko? What are you doing here?” she asked once she spotted the trio in the doorway. 

“I could ask you the same thing, you’re usually gone by now,” he quirked up an eyebrow. 

Mai shook her head, turning back to her desk, “Guess I just lost track of time.”

“Well, we were going to take a break outside the visitors center before checking on the enclosures. Do you want to come?” Sokka interjected. 

Zuko shot Mai a hopeful look, hidden to Sokka and Suki by the tilt of his head. 

“I suppose,” she sighed after a moment. 

Sokka grinned widely, taking Zuko’s hand (which made Zuko’s stomach backflip) and leaving the lab. Zuko couldn’t have left sooner, the pure whiteness of it all was straining. 

Outdoors were much more his style. The light of an oncoming sunset dipped behind the curving hills and trees of the park, creating jagged shadows as the four walked, Sokka and Zuko’s hands still intertwined. Not like either of them would pull away. 

They sat along the steps of the center, Suki perching her head up on the top step while Mai sat ridgedly next to her, tapping her foot. Sokka had pulled Zuko next to him, sprawling out along the concrete. Zuko stayed sat up, their connected hands resting on the cool ground. 

The four had drifted into a nice silence, listening to the faint grumble of the Brontosaurus and the rustle of leaves. Zuko couldn’t bring himself to tear his hand away from Sokka’s, even amongst the smirks he was shot from Suki and Mai. 

“I might go take a Jeep to the Allosaurus enclosure to check on the panel,” Zuko said eventually, almost immediately regretting it as Sokka’s face contorted into a frown, “you can come with Sokka, if you’d like,” he added. 

“Uh, duh. Come on dino boy,” Sokka grinned brightly. 

“We’ll be here,” Suki smirked. 

The Jeep’s were all parked today, thank god for that. Zuko was not looking forward to driving the janky one (or breathing in the smell of exhaust. Nasty). Sokka hopped in the passenger seat, the same wide smile plastered on his face. 

“Ready?” Zuko asked before turning the key. 

“We’re not going into battle dude,” Sokka teased. 

Zuko rolled his eyes, letting the car click a bit before turning on. Unfortunately, the irritating clicking sound was normal on all of the Jeeps. 

“Curse this stupid government funded park,” Zuko muttered, shifting into drive. 

The forest seemed more restless than usual, trees shaking and low grumbles of dinosaurs growing louder even though the distance was the same. Zuko listened to Sokka talk about… something. He couldn’t really pay attention though, his eyes locked on the road ahead. 

(And sometimes on Sokka’s lips. But nobody else had to know that). 

Unfortunately, Zuko was stopped in his tracks as the car halted in front of a fallen tree. It was clearly newly knocked over, a dust cloud still settling around the stump. Zuko shot Sokka a confused look, stepping out of the Jeep. 

“The car can’t get around it, we’ll have to walk the rest of the way,” he frowned. 

“Damnit, and here I thought I wasn’t going to have to walk today.”

Zuko huffed a laugh, examining the fallen tree. There were some large scratches scraped into the bark, seemingly in the pattern of claws. He ran a finger over a mark, eyes widening when he realized what possibly could have caused the scratches. 

“Sokka, get back in the car,” he almost shouted. 

“Huh?”

“Start the car, we need to get back to Mai and Suki. Now.”

Sokka looked worried, but didn’t ask any further questions. Zuko couldn’t bring himself to move his legs, it was like they were glued to the road. Only one thing could’ve caused that kind of damage, the length of the claw marks signature to the beast. 

“Zuko! What are you doing?” Sokka shouted, the Jeep already having been turned around. 

“Just- just give me a second.”

Zuko could hear Sokka mumbling frustratedly, but he still couldn’t find the will to move his legs. He could feel his heartbeat racing, his breathing became heavy, but his thoughts were jumbled and scared. 

“Zuko!”

He finally looked up in Sokka’s direction, hearing the far off sound of stomps rustling trees. Sokka was frantically waving him towards the car, eyes wide. Zuko turned back to see what on earth he was looking at, but his gut already knew. 

A large, ground breaking stomp along with the signature low grumble of a carnivore rang through Zuko’s head as he finally started stepping towards the Jeep. The dust began to settle, Zuko began to run, Sokka put the car in drive and stepped on the brake for as long as he needed for Zuko to get in. 

It didn’t matter how fast a car was, a 23 foot tall beast with a giant sail on its back and large, crocodilian teeth would be faster. 

“Sokka start driving!” Zuko shouted, picking up speed. 

“What? No way, get in the car!”

Zuko cursed under his breath, feeling the pound of massive steps on the ground. The Spinosaurus had started moving, and Zuko was utterly fucked. Both of them were. 

Zuko scrambled to open the car door and practically slammed his body down onto the seat, watching Sokka step on the gas with such force he was lurched backwards. 

Zuko looked back, seeing the massive Spinosaurus tailing them not too far behind. 

“We can’t get back to Mai and Suki, there’s no time. Just drive into the forest, there’s more cover,” Zuko sputtered. 

“We can’t just leave them there,” Sokka furrowed his eyebrows. 

“The Spinosaurus will probably follow us into the forest, then go to the herbivore areas,” Zuko said, “I can’t believe I let this happen,” he muttered quietly, hoping Sokka didn’t hear. 

(Sokka did hear, but they were about to get eaten by a dinosaur. Not the time). 

“Ok, fine. They’re smart.”

“Yes, they are,” Zuko replied, “but for now you need to swerve off the road.”

Sokka pursed his lips, looked in his side mirror which was now only showing the reflection of the terrifying dinosaur, and jerked the wheel to the side, sending them into the bumpy grass. The car slammed against a boulder that must’ve been hidden by the foliage, causing all kinds of beeping and lights to go off. 

“Shit, shit shit shit that’s bad,” Sokka panicked. 

“It’s fine, just get into the tree line.”

Zuko was trying to keep his cool for Sokka, who looked absolutely terrified, but it was really hard when there was a giant prehistoric monster chasing you. 

Finally, _finally_ , they were within the trees. The Spinosaurus hadn’t stopped his relentless chase, but it was unlikely it would follow much further due to the tightly packed trees surrounding them. 

“Ok, ok great he turned around,” Zuko sighed in relief, squeezing Sokka’s shoulder. 

“Thank god,” Sokka grinned, wiping at his forehead. 

The Jeep seemed to have given up though, sputtering and smoking like a wacked out electrical box. They drove it into a small clearing, then immediately hopped out in fear of being caught in an explosion. 

“Holy shit dude,” Sokka breathed heavily. 

“Holy shit dude,” Zuko parroted, smirking. 

Sokka rubbed at his face, massaging his temples and pacing. Zuko could still feel his heart racing as he leaned up against a tree, realizing where they were. 

“Sokka, this is the Sauropod forest.”

“The what now?”

“The big, long necked dinosaurs. This is where they are. If we don’t want to get sneezed on we should probably get in one of those trees.”

Sokka nodded, looking up to see which tree would be easiest to climb. 

“That one,” he pointed. 

“Perfect,” Zuko grinned, shaking his hands a bit. 

Once up in the tree, Zuko rested his head against the bark and twiddled with his thumbs. Sokka sat on the same branch as him, just a bit further up, looking out into the now low sunset. 

“That was…” Sokka trailed off. 

“Terrifying?”

“I was gonna say the scariest thing I’ve ever done ever, but that works too.”

Zuko chucked half heartedly, watching the sky change colors right in front of his eyes. The sun was now gone behind the hills, only creating rays of yellow above. He felt his eyes become heavy but he forced himself to stay awake. Sleep was not a necessity when a dinosaur could eat you at any point. 

“You tired?” Sokka asked. How on earth was he so observant?

“A bit.”

“You sleep, I’ll wake you up in a few hours so we can take shifts.”

“You sure?”

“Yeah dude, I’m sure having a dinosaur try to eat you is quite tiring.”

“He chased after you too,” Zuko retorted. 

“Don’t worry about that, I’ll sleep once you get up.”

Zuko nodded and yawned, pressing his head back into the bark behind him. It wasn’t exactly comfortable, but what can you do. He felt his body succumb to his sleepiness, his last coherent thought being _Sokka_.


End file.
